Browse Tag: windows phone

If you own a Lumia device that runs Windows Phone 8.1 in China, rejoice as Microsoft China has just rolled out the Lumia Denim update. The Lumia Denim update has rolled out to the the Nokia Lumia 520, Nokia Lumia 525, Nokia Lumia 526, Nokia Lumia 625, Nokia Lumia 720, Nokia Lumia 720T, and the Nokia Lumia 1320 in China.

The update includes major changes to the Lumia Camera app. It helps the camera boot up much faster compared to its previous boot up time. Furthermore, capturing multiple shots one after another now takes less time (just a fraction of a second in between). With some models, Moment Capture allows 4K video recording and HD image capturing from videos. Last but not the least, the update allows the adding of Bing Weather or Bing Health and Fitness data to the Glance screen.

Another feature included in the update is a new way of activating Cortana. To activate her, you can now say, “Hey Cortana.” A Qualcomm Snapdragon 8xx processor is required for this to work.

The Lumia Denim update has rolled out in Chine, but what about other regions? Microsoft said, “The Lumia Denim update has started rolling out to a limited number of devices in selected markets, and will continue arriving in waves by device. A wider rollout of Lumia Denim to all Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to begin in early January, following partner testing and approvals.”

Whether you like the game or now, Candy Crush Saga is the hottest game on mobile and on Facebook, with millions upon millions playing the game around the world. It looks like more people will be playing the game, as it is now available for Windows Phone.

Press release:

The World’s Sweetest Game Candy Crush Saga Debuts on Windows Phone

London & New York, 11 December, 2014: King Digital Entertainment plc (NYSE: KING), a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world, today announced its global hit game Candy Crush Saga is now available to download for free from the Windows Phone Store.

Candy Crush Saga is one of the world’s most irresistible games, played on average 834 million times each day*. And now, Windows Phone 8.1 customers worldwide will be able to get a taste of the fun as they enter the deliciously sweet and colourful world of the Candy Kingdom.

With 690 levels available at launch, players will be challenged to mix and match colourful candies in combinations of three or more to gain points and bonuses and progress through the Saga map. Players will also be able to seamlessly synchronise their progress across multiple devices via Facebook, allowing them to play anytime, anywhere.

“Windows Phone provides a great environment to enjoy the rich and colourful Candy Crush Saga gameplay so we’re excited to announce the official worldwide launch on the platform,” said Sebastian Knutsson, Chief Creative Officer at King. “King continues to add new levels to the game every few weeks so we hope to keep Windows Phone players thoroughly entertained on a daily basis.”

“Windows Phone is backed by a rich app ecosystem that offers a variety of quality apps and games that take advantage of the platform’s unique features and design,” said Todd Brix, General Manager, Windows Apps and Store, Microsoft Corp. “Candy Crush Saga is a great example of the kind of rich games that people will find in the Windows Phone Store to get the most out of their devices.”

It seems even entry-level Windows Phone devices such as the Lumia 520 can also run the game, since it requires 512 MB of RAM.

The “McLaren” prototype that is believed to be the Microsoft Lumia 1030 has been leaked a number of times in the internet. It is a massive device with an equally massive 50-megapixel rear-facing PureView camera. Although reports said that plans to further develop the device has been shelved, this doesn’t explain why it has been showing up a lot on the web as of late. In this latest leak by Chinese-speaking CNBeta, the device is pictured alongside the Apple iPhone 6.

Here’s what we’ve gathered from these new leaked photos. First of all, it says that the device is a “prototype property of Microsoft Mobile,” suggesting that it is a device under development from the Redmond firm and not the Nokia of old. Secondly, it does show a pretty massive front-facing camera, which means it will be pretty massive and not at all slim.

Going back to the device being owned by Microsoft and not Nokia, it does suggest that Microsoft is working on a Lumia 1020 successor. The question is, however, is if and when Microsoft is planning to launch the device. You’re guess is as good as ours.

Interested in the McLaren? Keep it here at Phone LTD for further updates.

Microsoft has confirmed with The Verge that it will be dropping the Nokia brand in its handsets and will be replacing it with “Microsoft.” So future handsets will carry the brand “Microsoft Lumia” instead of current Windows Phone handsets that carry the “Nokia Lumia” branding.

Microsoft started dropping hints about its plans to kill off the Nokia and Windows Phone brands last month, and now the company is ready to make it official. Microsoft Lumia is the new brand name that takes the place of Nokia for the software maker. The name change follows a slow transition from Nokia.com over to Microsoft’s new mobile site, and Nokia France will be the first of many countries that adopt “Microsoft Lumia” for its Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts. Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that other countries will follow the rebranding steps in the coming weeks.

What’s still unclear is how the Redmond firm plans to carry this out. Will its upcoming phones have the Microsoft branding in place of where the Nokia branding use to be, or if the handsets will simply show Lumia at the back and front of the device. We’ll just have to wait and see.

According to previous reports, Microsoft is planning to drop the “Phone” from its “Windows Phone” branding. This means that the Redmond firms mobile platform will simply be called “Windows” just like its PC platform. Now, Neowin has gotten its hands on leaked photos that seemingly confirms the software giant’s said plan.

Of course, since this anything but official, take it with a pinch of salt.